Pritchard holds lead in provisional vote tally

The elections board will count the other provisional ballots today.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The race for the final Austintown Township trustee seat got a little tighter with the counting of provisional votes, but incumbent Warren Bo Pritchard still holds a lead over challenger Sam Swoger III.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections counted the provisional votes Monday in Austintown. The rest of the provisional votes will be counted today, including those in close races for seats on the Canfield, Springfield, South Range and Western Reserve school boards.
Before the provisional votes were counted, Pritchard had a 24-vote lead over Swoger.
The margin of victory was 0.13 of 1 percent.
Swoger picked up 35 provisional votes and Pritchard received 27 votes.
With the provisionals, Pritchard has 4,807 votes compared with 4,791 for Swoger. The margin of victory tightened to 0.09 of 1 percent, or 16 votes.
Provisional votes are cast by people who moved 30 days or less before the Nov. 8 election, said Thomas McCabe, county elections board director. County boards of elections in Ohio must verify the addresses of provisional voters before opening those ballots.
Of the 106 provisional ballots cast in Austintown, 28 were thrown out because the voter wasn't registered or cast a ballot in the wrong precinct, election officials said.
The board plans to certify the ballot next week, and hold a recount during the first week in December, McCabe said.
Automatic recount
Recounts are automatic if the margin of victory is 0.5 of 1 percent or less after election results are certified, he said. A recount in the Pritchard-Swoger race is automatic, McCabe said.
Pritchard was relieved that he's still winning after provisional ballots were counted. Election officials and Pritchard expect the margin of victory to remain the same after the recount.
There were two trustee spots on the Nov. 8 ballot. Trustee David Ditzler won re-election with 6,309 votes. That includes 43 provisional votes he received.
Swoger said he has to stay optimistic that a recount could change the race's outcome.
"You never give up until it's over," he said.
Swoger, who also unsuccessfully ran for trustee in 2003, said he expects to run again in the future.
Swoger said he wouldn't challenge Trustee Lisa Oles if she ran for re-election in 2007, but would get in the race if she didn't seek the post.
If Oles runs in two years, Swoger said he'd be back on the ballot in 2009.
skolnick@vindy.com